Truth In Those Lies
by marcasite
Summary: There’s a story here, a simple one with a beginning and middle. She’s still working out the ending. Cameron, House/Cameron, Chase/Cameron Season 2


_Thanks to Kara for the beta! Written for the 'unloveyou' challenge, "You'll Do"_

* * *

There's a story here, a simple one with a beginning and middle. She's still working out the ending.

* * *

He likes to stand beside her in the lab while she works.

She thinks it might be a way of exuding power but knows better. He's more complicated than that.

She pushes her hair away from her face in annoyance as she leans toward the microscope. He casually taps his cane against the cabinet, setting up a rhythmic pattern that she's positive he's only doing to irritate her.

"Do you have to be in here?" She doesn't look up. "Answers aren't going to come faster just because you want them."

"I'm having a bad day, its quiet in here."

She adjusts the lens and leans back from the scope, "Was quiet, you mean. Have you ever had a good day?"

His voice takes on the layer of sarcasm that he has perfected over the years, "Every day is a good day…except for today."

"Right."

Silence flows between them, broken only as she sighs quietly, "Still no answers here."

"Eager for me to go?"

She allows her silence to speak for her and sighs when she hears the door close behind her.

* * *

She leans back against a chair in the conference room, rubbing her eyes as she drags her glasses off. The words in the file have started swimming in front of her eyes and she realizes that she's exhausted. It's time to go home and shake this day off of her. There's always tomorrow.

She closes her eyes for a moment, trying to drag the energy together that she will need in order to leave. The sound of a chair being scraped along the floor causes her eyes to open and she turns to stare at Chase.

"Want to get a bite to eat, maybe a drink or two?" He asks, tugging self-consciously on his collar. She sighs inwardly, not sure why he is so persistent. She's still not sure how she feels about him or them for that matter, and was doing her best to avoid. It has been a trying few months for all of them, between her HIV scare and the inquisition into a patient of Chases that had died earlier in the year. She senses the eagerness in him but doesn't want to encourage it.

She's still not completely sure why.

"Not tonight, thanks. I just want to go home."

She senses the disappointment and quickly stands to gather her belongings.

"Maybe another night?" His voice is quiet, his gaze following her as she pulls on her coat and slings her bag across her chest.

"Yeah, maybe."

* * *

She smiles contentedly as she shrugs off her coat and tosses it carelessly over her couch. Kicking her shoes off, she makes her way through her living space into the kitchen where she grabs a wineglass and a bottle.

This day has been tedious and she just wants to end it with a lovely glass of wine and simple quiet. She never allows herself to feel lonely and appreciates these nights as opportunity to clear her mind of the lingering hurt that comes with House's sarcasm and the daily reminder of Chase and her own mistakes.

Sighing, she reaches for the bottle to pour another glass and decides to subject herself to the little bit of work she has brought home. At least she can review the files in quiet, without the sideline commentary.

At least, she tries.

* * *

She knows who it is before she opens the door.

"What a surprise." But she moves aside to let him in.

He watches her and she refuses to say anything more. She gestures absently at the bottle and points at the kitchen.

"What? If I want a glass I have to get it myself?" He tosses his cane beside her; his voice is laced with mockery. "What kind of hostess are you?"

"You weren't invited."

She watches him, studying him over the rim of her glass. He returns her gaze, openly watching her. She backs off quietly, her gaze resting on the files strewn across the coffee table.

"Why are you here?"

He doesn't answer her and that frightens her more than the sarcasm, the mockery. She knows the sarcasm, thinks she understands the mocking. But the silence is new and it rattles her.

Finally, he pulls his gaze from her and asks quietly, "Why do you think I'm here?"

She lies to herself, "I don't know."

He doesn't answer right away and the silence falls between them again. She's tired of this and wonders, not for the first time, if it is time to stop allowing him this much access to her and to her emotions. It's almost as if she sets herself up for whatever comes next.

She has almost given up when his voice, quiet and reserved, reaches over to her, "I don't know, either."

The honesty, if nothing else, is refreshing.

* * *

Chase catches her first thing in the morning, corners her before she has a chance to get to the elevator.

"Look, I don't want to be pushy but I want to get to know you. Really get to know you." His face searches her, waiting for her reaction. "Drinks tonight, say yes and I promise I will stop asking."

There's something in his voice that causes her to hesitate, an openness that's been missing in everyone else around her. She starts to speak and catches House's eye as he brushes past, ignoring them both.

"Yes, tonight sounds fine. Hopefully, today isn't too insane and we'll both be able to get out at a reasonable hour."

She's rewarded by a quick smile and can't help but wonder what her motives really are.

* * *

She wants that ending and can't quite figure out how to achieve it.

end


End file.
